Do all 18 years old go on UC if they cannot find a job

[Crystalovertherainbow]

Do the family needs to show their income or the new adult is considered their own financial unit now , even if they live with the parents and their UC is given them

"left college" usually means until the end of the academic year - which is August 31st.
(Even though they actually finish around June).

I just checked on the gov.uk website.
If your parents receive any benefits they continue to receive them until August 31st of the academic year. So even if someone is 18 they wouldn't be able to start claiming UC for themselves until September 1st.
This is for 18 year olds living at home and in full-time education (6th Form or College).
(Of course is probably different in Scotland)
Basically parents can claim child benefit and other child related benefits up to August 31st of the final academic year that their child is in. So for most that's when their child will be 18, sometimes 19 if they do the extra year.
An 18 year old still enrolled in full-time education cannot claim anything (except if there are specific circumstances such as being a parent themselves).
So the crossover time of finishing school/college (usually June) and September 1st an 18 cannot claim because their parents are still claiming for them.

It should be absolutely tiny? Do you think 78 pounds a week is a fortune? No UC is not going to be reduced or time limited and the reason for that is that there are some people under 25 who need the housing element of UC to pay rent and have to pay bills from that too.

As I said previously there are young people who have left residential care who rely on UC to pay rent and bill. Same with young people in homeless units. They have to claim benefits so they can pay the hostel or the charity rent

Not everyone comes from a position of having supportive parents - or any parents

I actually struggle with the thought process of people who think giving people on UC a pittance will help them find work quickly

I claimed unemployment benefit as it was for a year a long time ago when I was studying part time because I didn't have the grades I needed to get into uni. I got just over 32 pounds a week (benefits really have not increased much in 35 years)

@scottishgirl69 yes the "it should be tiny" is amusing.
It's around £10 a day.

@NeedmorelegoI’d feed, clothe and house my kids regardless of income because I’d always put their needs before mine. But I think the concept that not receiving CB means a person is loaded. This is not the case. My friends husband died, leaving behind massive debt. You can’t claim for being in debt. So whilst she’s a good earner, I’m sure a few extra quid for her child to receive would be a help.

But all of this makes my head hurt, makes no wonder some people don’t claim. My DD will start year 2 of college just before her 18th birthday. Meaning she will be almost 19 the following September. So if I’m reading correctly, those kids who are at the older end of the year wouldn’t claim until they’re 19 anyway…by which point I’m hoping she would have made the decision to start uni. For those who don’t go to uni, they would be able to claim. Or am I wrong?

I think some people don't understand that even 18 year olds particularly if they come from a family who don't have lots of cash will still have expenses. They have to go to the dwp once a week to meet a work coach for the first few months at least. It's a requirement that if you are on UC that you have a phone so that if your work coach needs to contact you they can do so (yes I know you can get cheap phone contracts)

I actually think it's a good thing that people can claim UC after 18 and study part time (in most cases they still need to job search).

@thinkofsomethingdifferent yes if your child doesn't go to university and cannot find a job then yes they can claim.
Claiming is met with restrictions though so it's not money for doing nothing.
Your friend whose husband died - I hope she's claiming her 25% council tax discount as she's technically the only adult in the home until her 18 year old finishes education.
It's all down to whether a parent can or is willing to pay for their (now adult) child's needs.

He's 18 and living with mummy does the mother have any difficulties herself?

Everyone saying there are no jobs, then why do we have low skilled immigration .
Stop immigration and all the youngsters can fill the jobs, No benefits needed. Problem solved all round?
(Remember if you need a job you take what is on offer it is not a choice unless you have multiple offers).

Low or non-skilled and very low paid jobs presumably, possibly concentrated in particular areas. The sort of job people might think 'other people's kids' might do but wouldn't want their own to do?

There are some really dreadful attitudes to young people on here. They are facing circumstances which are not their fault in an extremely difficult AI/post Brexit/post pandemic landscape where intergenerational inequality is possibly the worst it's ever been. There aren't enough decent jobs for young people. As a country we should be trying to sort this out.

You said it not enough "decent' jobs. Surprisingly that has always been the case. But previously people knew they had to take a job if they wanted to eat.

What makes an 18 year old or indeed anyone think they are entitled to pick and choose.

In the 80s my aunt went to Uni, fees paid with a grant. Students could sign on in the holidays and qualified for housing benefit!

I don’t think she signed on or took the housing benefit but was aware you could.

Different times eh?

Being eligible for housing benefit stopped as students in 1987 or so - I certainly didn't get housing benefit when I was at student at that point and lived away from home

My mum came from a working class family who struggled with money -, even though her dad was in full time employment. She wouldn't have been able to do to uni and neither would her brother if grants hadn't existed

If someone applies for a job and gets it and refuses it they can be sanctioned for 91 days which I believe is the first level, they can be sanctioned for leaving a job - or for being sacked. You don't get picking and choosing

People have also been sanctioned for not going to a dwp appointment when they have been at an interview. Some people have been sanctioned for being in hospital

If some people think it's so easy being on UC - they've clearly only had a positive experience - or they've never been on it

If benefits are a pittance that's how it should be. It acts as an incentive to get a job and start earning.

Ideally if someone isn't on the academic track they they should be planning for the job search well in advance. Also a good reason to stay in school, and actually work hard at school. Graduates make more money for a reason. But I think it's sensible at least to support someone temporarily as they search for a job and they should be trying to do whatever they can at the start.

It absolutely does not. It has the opposite effect - you try being on UC for any length of time and see how demoralising it is

With respect people have said this to you multiple times in this thread - working hard at school does not always translate into academic success

Graduates make more money? I bet self employed plumbers make more money that I ever have - including in management jobs

I have a friend who was on 80k by the age of 27 - no degree. Plenty of people make decent money without being a graduate

@Jiwdf perhaps schools should actually do more careers advice then.
Because it's mostly non existent.
Many teens work very hard. They get good grades. But they have no clue what different jobs are actually out there that they could do and no idea what to aim for.

Do you actually know the monthly amount paid to UC claimants to keep body and soul together for a month?

Just above your comment, Vivio admits to illegally serving customers in a pub at the age of fourteen. Do you think it's OK for children to commit criminal acts like that? Or for employers to allow them to do so?

My stance is rooted in the understanding that bad things can and do happen, and that laws and policies exist to protect us from the worst outcomes.

26,000 people per year are injured by an uninsured driver. Going around saying "it'll be fine, we don't need qualifications and insurance" works, right up until it doesn't, at which point you are facing legal action.

400 quid for single people. I had someone tell me on another thread that that was a fortune - Im not on that at the moment because of a leg break - but I was previous to that. Apparently that's spending money according to some. People have to pay bills and travel and food from that too

The UK has the lowest benefits and pension payments in Europe and some people have a really odd view of people on benefits. I've been called more names online since I went on disability benefits than any time I have ever claimed benefits

I'm lazy. Feckless. A scrounger. Im actually none of these things - I had to do a uni exam from my hospital bed because they wouldn't let me out the day they said they would. I could have packed my degree in. I didn't

Should be time limited and slowly slowly reduced after a certain time

Do you know what UC is set at? "What the law says you need to live on". That's the exact wording used on letters from DWP.

It already is at the minimum that you can live on. It cannot be reduced further without guaranteeing hardship, as I and the other posters who discussed the sanctions regime upthread can testify.

Graduates make more money for a reason.

Are you a professional comedian, or just a troll?

I have a STEM degree and 20 years experience in my field. My gas fitter, who went to trade college straight out of school, earns nearly twice what I do.

And they don't care why you left the job. Boss feeling your arse up? The Job Centre still sanction you if you leave.

Your friend is an example of why adults living with their parents can claim from 18.

She should send him to claim UC and charge him half of it for board. He will soon learn that "the dole" is no fun and it is better to work or study. Tradies, such as electricians and gas installers, are never out of work.

Benefits are supposed to be minimal and a temporary measure. Not a living expense. £400 covers food with money left over to contribute to bills

Why do people keep saying "or study" ?
The point is that they've finished their education. They are done.
Study what?
(this is for those who will simply not be going to university)